Unknown facts about DARK SHADOWS—Really?

DARK SHADOWS - Cast shot - 1967 L-R David Henesy, Sharon Smythe (young girl), Katherine Leigh Scott, George Robert Gerringer, Nancy Barrett (blonde), Dennis Partrick, Alexandra Moltke, John Karlen, Jonathan Frid, Grayson Hall, Clarice Blackburn (sitting), Dana Elcar, Louis Edmonds, Joan Bennett (Photo by ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images)

I won’t claim to know EVERYTHING about DARK SHADOWS, the cult smash Horror soap opera that ruled the daytime airwaves during its run, 1966 through 1971, on the ABC network. I do know an awful lot, though, much more than your average Joe on the street. Let us delve into this list, then, of nine “terrifyingly amusing” factoids concerning the show (available at the link below; the list, that is, not the show itself; THAT is available on DVD and youtube, but there’s six years’ worth of episodes to view, so I’d recommend the DVD collection) that the Joes of the world probably don’t know, and don’t care to know, to see if there are any that *I* don’t know.

Barnabas was never supposed to become a main character? Check. I knew that. That it took the cast a long, long time to ever use the word “vampire?” Check. A missing episode? Check. The budget constraints, the fact that Jonathan Frid posed only for the face in the famous portrait in Collinwood? Check and check. The series has spawned three theatrical features? Knew that. In fact the only one of the nine that I can’t say for certain that I knew is the one concerning the show being the first soap opera ever to be filmed in color. It’s more than possible that I DID know that at some point and had just forgotten. How many of these did YOU know already?

By TheCheezman

WAYNE MILLER is the owner and creative director of EVIL CHEEZ PRODUCTIONS, specializing in theatrical performances and haunted attractions. He has written, produced, and directed (and occasionally acted in) over two dozen plays, most of them in the Horror and True Crime genres. He obtained a doctorate in Occult Studies from Miskatonic University and is an active paranormal investigator. Is frequently told he resembles Anton Lavey. And Ming the Merciless. Denn die totden reiten schnell!

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